Crow
by BryannaB709
Summary: Crowlin Mortus is a new psyciatrist at Arkham Asylum, and she has fallen head-over-heels for her a certain Jonathan Crane. Will he reciprocate her feelings, or just scare her away like the proper crow she is? OOC pretty much everyone, pretty much just an AU
1. Chapter 1

_A/N:_ I have recently seen the first movie, and I thought it needed a lot more Scarecrow in it. So, here's my OC to not only give him a real companion, but also a dopple-ganger, and a love interest. (Eventually.) Please review, favorite, follow; whatever floats your boat.

 _Disclaimer:_ I own nothing, or else I would be filthy-rich, and not writing this in my free time.

 **Crow**

The dark clouds hung low over Arkham Asylum, casting an ominous air over the already threatening castle-like structure.

Gnarled trees dominated the landscape, and mist poured from every corner of the area, making it difficult to see past five feet in front of your face.

Suddenly, a beat-up taxi-cab drove to the entrance, sputtering small plumes of smoke, and screeching to a halt at the tall stairs.

A strikingly pale woman stumbled awkwardly out of the cab, clutching a small handbag, and handed the cab driver a crumpled ten dollar bill before trudging up the menacing steps in her black high-heels.

She thought to herself, "You're going to be professional, not a small schoolgirl. Come on, Crowlin, be confident."

She wiped a stray strand of her raven-black hair out of her glasses with her spare hand, let out a deep breath, and pushed open the heavy metal door with a slight grunt.

The inside of the asylum was a lot lighter than the outside, so poor Crowlin stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the countless psyciatrists in their tight little pastel outfits and blonde hairdos with colorful hairbands.

But she took in another breath, and told herself to keep walking.

She walked silently to the receptionist's desk, trying not to attract any attention, and said in her mousy little voice, "Um, I'm the new psyciatrist, and I was told I needed to talk to someo-"

The receptionist looked up from her tabloid clutched in her claw-like red fingernails, and snapped, "Mr. Crane's office is down that hallway. First door on the left."

She pointed one of her claw-like fingers in the direction of her instructions, and gave her the 'get lost' look.

Crowlin nodded shakily, and turned around to follow the receptionist's instructions, when she ran head-on into a fellow psyciatrist, making them both fall to the floor.

This woman was the complete opposite of Crowlin; with her cheery blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, neat black panty-hose, and a red botton-down shirt tucked into her black pencil skirt; making Crowlin with her tight black sweater and black dress pants look like a crow standing next to a cardinal.

Crowlin picked herself up carefully, and said, "I am _so_ sorry, I'm just so _clumsy_ , can I help you up?"

The other woman just laughed, dusted off her skirt, and said in a bright, chipper voice, "Oh, it's fine! I'm okay!"

Crowlin was just a little surprised that the lady didn't yell at her for her clumsiness, and so she stuttered, "O-oh, okay. I-I'm the new psyciatrist, Crowlin Mortus."

The lady smiled, revealing her perfect teeth behind her ruby-red lips, and said in that cheerful voice, "I'm Harleen Quinzel! Nice ta meet ya, Crowlin! Just call me Harley, everybody does."

Crowlin's large brown eyes widened, and she said in awe, "You're the lady that does sessions with the Joker?"

Harleen just waved this off with a guilty smile, and said humbly, "Oh, that's nothing. We just get along well, me and Mista Jay."

Crowlin offered a small smile as she thought to herself, _"Mista Jay?"_ , but on the outside she said, "Well, it was nice meeting you."

Harleen shook Crowlin's hand enthusiastically, and said with a wide smile, "Nice ta meet ya too!"

Crowlin walked quickly down the hallway towards Dr. Crane's office, holding her handbag in both hands now, and slowly pushed open the heavy wooden door.

Dr. Crane was sitting in a tall black chair, scratching something in an open notebook on the desk in front of him; then he looked up, and saw Crowlin standing in the doorway.

She was surprised to see that he looked nothing like what she thought he would. For one, he was a lot younger; about her age by the looks of it.

He had a thin face and frame, with slightly pale skin (but not as pale as her), and piercing blue eyes behind thin clear glasses frames, and slightly tussled brown hair.

She was shaken from her thoughts when he said in his clear, smooth voice, "Ms. Mortus?"

She stuttered, inwardly cursing herself for being so careless, "Yes?"

Crane raised his eyebrows, and said, "I asked you if you wanted to have a seat?"

Crowlin nodded slowly, and sat down in the chair in front of his desk, her handbag in her lap.

She sat there awkwardly, biting the inside of her cheek, until he asked, "Can... I see your resume?"

She blushed a violent shade of pink (which stood out incredibly on her white cheeks), and pulled a thick manilla folder from her handbag, placing it on the desk in front of him.

Dr. Crane opened the folder, and examined its contents.

Crowlin's eyes wandered to the notebook lying open on his desk, and became mesmerized by his spidery handwriting that covered the page in his thoughts.

After a few tense moments, he said with an impressed tone in his voice, "Six years at Harvard?"

Crowlin blushed again, and said with a considerable increase of strength in her voice, "I earned a Master's Degree in Psycology at Harvard's Psycology Department, and spent two years working at Pilgrim Psyciatric Center in New York."

Dr. Crane nodded, and said in a softer tone, "Not bad. And, what persuaded you to come here to Arkham?"

Crowlin crossed her legs underneath the desk, and said while rubbing the back of her neck with her other hand, "Well, I've heard many things about this place in the medical world, and I decided I would like a challenge."

Dr. Crane nodded again, and said, "Well, as you probably know, I am just the _assistant_ director here at Arkham, Dr. Arkham is the boss-man here. But I _will_ be your supervisor."

Crowlin nodded, and placed her resume back in her handbag.

Dr. Crane said to her, "Your interview is over. You seem to have ample experience, your background check seems to be in order, all in all everything is in top shape.

She said as she stood up, "Thank you. May I ask when I start?"

Dr. Crane smiled in her direction, and said, "Ms. Mortus, you begin tomorrow at 7 a.m. Is that satisfactory?"

Crowlin said with a rare smile on her face, "That's great! Thank you for your time."

Dr. Crane said with another smile, "No, Ms. Mortus, thank you."

She turned around, and started to open the door when he said, "And Ms. Mortus!"

She turned back around, and said, "Yes?"

He said with another smile, "Just call me Jonathan. Everyone does."

Crowlin smiled, and said, "And you can call me Crow, Mr. Cra- Jonathan. It speaks better than 'Crowlin'."

Jonathan clasped his hands under his nose, and said, "Thank you, _Crow_."

She smiled another smile, her dark lips stretching into a thin curve, and left the room carrying her handbag.

Jonathan watched her leave, and said to his empty office as the door swung closed, "Crowlin Mortus."

A small smile flashed across his lips as he opened his laptop, and started pecking away at the keys.

Outside the asylum, Crowlin called another cab, and betrayed a small smile as she climbed inside.

She whispered to herself, "Jonathan Crane."

She hugged her handbag to her chest, and stared dreamily out the window at the dreary landscape passing by in streaks of grey and black and the occasional dot of green or blue.

* * *

 _A/N:_ How do you like this so far? Please leave a review, and tell me what you loved, what you hated, whatever.

FLAMES WILL BE USED TO ROAST MARSHMALLOWS.


	2. Dreams

_A/N:_ Glad you came back! Chapters might get a little less frequent because of school, and with school comes homework, and with homework comes the _black hole_ that sucks away all your typing time!

 _Disclaimer:_ I own nothing except Crowlin.

 **Dreams**

Crowlin opened the door to her apartment, stepped over some abandoned Coke cans, and saw her roommate sitting on the tattered couch wearing nothing but a loose robe.

She groaned, and said, "Cathy, please put some clothes on!" as she set her handbag on her bed.

Cathy rolled her shocking green eyes, and pulled her bright orange hair into a ponytail as she said, "Aw, come on, don't be such a kill-joy, Crow! Besides, it's seven p.m.! Who's looking anyway?"

Crowlin rolled her eyes in return, and said as she sat on her bed, "Me. Well, I've got another job now."

Cathy sat up on the couch, and rested her chin on her hands as she said brightly, "Where's it at?"

Crowlin fingered her dark green sheets, and said, "Arkham. It's pretty high-profile."

Cathy smiled mischievously, and leaned closer as she said, "But that's not it, right? There's something else."

She perked up, and said in a much more hyper voice that just begged for gossip, "It's a guy, isn't it?"

Crowlin smiled guiltily, and said, "No..."

Cathy smiled, and said in a slow, accusing tone, "It is a boy! I _knew_ you'd get a guy sometime! Who is it?"

Crowlin paused, then started twirling a stray lock of her raven hair around her index finger.

She said slowly, choosing her words carefully as a strange smile crept its way onto her face, "He works at Arkham... he's my supervisor now-"

Cathy's smile widened, and she said, "What does he look like?"

Crowlin stared dreamily out of the dirty apartment window, out at the cloudy night sky, and said, "He's tall, he wears glasses like me, and he has these brilliant blue eyes, that, I don't know, _shine_."

Cathy poked her roommate in the shoulder, and said, "Man, you've got it bad! What's his name?"

Crowlin almost swooned as she said, "Jonathan Crane."

Cathy let out a frantic giggle, and said, "You already know his first name? Does he know yours?"

Crowlin shifted her position on the bed, and said, "Well, he did have my file right in front of him. And, well, he just told me to call him Jonathan."

Cathy bounced a little on the couch, and said with her voice laced in giggles, "Oooh, you're already on a first-name level!"

Crowlin fell backwards onto the soft green covers, and said, "No more questions please, Cathy. I've got to go to sleep."

Cathy rolled off the couch, and sprung to her feet as she groaned, "Fiiiiine."

She trudged over to her bed (which was on the other side of the one-room apartment), and pulled the ratty red and yellow covers over herself.

She lied there for a second or two, then said, "Crow, you're not gonna change into your p-js?"

Crow groaned, and pulled off her high-heels, throwing them into her neat closet.

She shed her black sweater, and pulled on a grey sweatshirt.

After she replaced her black dress pants with a white pair of yoga pants, she collapsed back onto her bed, not bothering to pull the covers back over herself.

She fell into her dreams, which were filled with fields of scarecrows, chasing after black crows through the endless rows of wheat.

* * *

Jonathan Crane was lying underneath the brown covers of his bed, thrashing silently in his sleep.

He was running, seeing slits of the landscape in front of him through two ragged holes over his eyes.

A flash of black flew past his left, and he turned to chase it.

He caught the fleeting figure in his clumsy hands, and held it in front of his eyeholes so he could see it.

Struggling in his burlap-gloved hands was a weak, but still magnificent, crow.

It looked up at him with its polished black eyes, and let out a weak 'caw'.

Jonathan loosened his hands, and let it hop out of his grasp onto his arm.

He felt the slight pinch of where its claws attached to his arm, and he brought the other gloved hand to stroke the pretty bird's feathered head.

The crow flexed its wings, and let out a friendly 'caw' as it took off from his forearm.

He watched it fly far into the bleached sky, and swoop and dive in an invisible trapeze.

* * *

Crowlin wasn't watching the chase now, she was a part of it.

She could feel the wind passing underneath her arms, but when she looked at herself, they weren't arms at all.

She had wings, covered in long, beautiful black feathers.

She let out a cheerful 'hooray', but what came from her mouth was an awful 'caw'.

Suddenly, she felt a swift hand snatch her out of the sky, whipping the air right out of her tiny lungs.

The owner of the hand brought her to its level, and she could see she had been caught by one of the scarecrows.

She tried to beg, but what came out was another weak 'caw'.

Surprisingly, the scarecrow loosened its grip on her, allowing her to hop onto his forearm.

She flexed her wings, testing for any broken wingbones, then let out a friendly 'caw' as she took off flying again.

* * *

Jonathan watched his little friend fly, then smiled a dusty smile as it flew back to him.

But it started to fall, its wings stretching and shedding feathers, and its claws shrinking and thickening.

Its beak shrunk back into its head as it fell, and long, black hair started sprouting from its skull.

Its wings turned into human arms, and its claws turned into human legs.

While it transformed, it let out a pained 'caw', but that 'caw' slowly turned into a horrifying human scream.

An oddly familiar face formed from the remenants of the crow's face, and all of the shed feathers swirled around it to form a cloak.

He could see the falling human was a woman, but her face was so painfully familiar.

When he saw that she was reaching the ground, and alarmingly fast, he ran underneath her, and stretched out his arms to catch her.

* * *

Crowlin flew up into a dive, but her wings failed her, and started stretching painfully. She could see her feathers rip out of her contorting wings, and she let out a pained 'caw'.

The wind whipped around her face, and her claws shrunk painfully as her beak contracted back into her face.

She could hear her 'caw's turn slowly into screams, and saw her long black hair whip around her face as she fell.

Human arms and legs formed from her wings and claws, and she let out another scream as she saw the ground grow closer.

Her glorious black feathers morphed around her to form a cloak over her feather-less body, and she shut her eyes and let out one last scream as the ground grew closer...

closer...

 _closer..._

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 **CRASH**

.

.

.

.

.

Instead of finding herself splattered painfully on the ground in a muddled puddle of blood, feathers, and broken bones, she found herself in the arms of...

.

 _The scarecrow_.

She looked into the eyeholes of the sack over his head, and saw two bright blue eyes staring back at her.

* * *

 _A/N:_ How do you like so far? If you thought the dream sequence was just a little choppy, just saw so.


	3. Masquerade

_A/N:_ Hello! I'm back for another chapter! :) Don't let the title of this chapter fool you...

 _Disclaimer:_ I own nothing.

 **Masquerade**

Jonathan woke up with a jolt as the last seconds of his dream lingered in his mind; he caught the falling woman, and he found that she bore a striking resemblance to...

 _To..._

Dammit, now it was fading.

He shook his head, and reassured himself that it was a dream, and nothing more.

He climbed out of his bed, and pulled on his dress shirt.

* * *

Cathy was shaken from her sleep by the sound of her roommate clawing at the ceiling.

The red-head jolted upright, and ran to the side of Crow's bed, grabbing her shoulders, and shaking hard.

Crow's eyes flew open, and she let out a small panicked scream.

Cathy shook Crow's shoulders again, and said slowly, "I woke you up 'cause you looked like you were having a nightmare."

Crow blinked twice, then stood up slowly, saying, "It was just a stupid nightmare."

She stretched her arms, and said, "What time is it?"

Cathy nodded warily, and glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table, saying, "Six forty."

Crow yelped, and threw off her sweatshirt, pulling on her button-down at almost-lightning speed.

Cathy frowned, and said, "What's the matter?"

Crow said hurriedly, "I've got to be there by seven!"

Cathy shrugged again, knowing it would be pointless to question her crazy roomie's motives, and trudged towards the fridge to grab some pickles.

Fully dressed in her button-down shirt and dress pants, Crow burst out from the small walk-in closet, grabbed her handbag, and ran out of the apartment, yelling back a "See you this afternoon, Cathy!", and headed towards the downstairs to catch a cab.

She ran to the curb, and yelled, "Taxi! Taxi!"

Soon enough, a taxi-cab pulled up to the curb, and allowed her to jump inside.

Crow ran her fingers through her hair, and said in an extremely flustered tone, "Arkham Asylum please."

The taxi driver just nodded, and pulled away from the curb, the tail-pipe spitting out a plume of smoke before pulling into the right lane.

* * *

Jonathan straightened his tie, and looked back at his firm reflection in the mirror.

He was surprised to find that, for the first time since high school, he actually wanted to impress someone. Sure, there was Dr. Arkham, but now that Ms. Mor- no, _Crow_ was here, he noticed he wanted to make a good impression on someone other than his superiors.

He shook this off, and turned around to face the rest of his office. He patted the briefcase that sat plainly on the corner of the desk, and looked at the door for a couple seconds.

He glanced at his watch, and saw the hands pointing out 6:59.

He smiled, and looked up as Crow burst through the door, clutching her handbag, and panting slightly.

She sat down right as the time read 7:00, and said in an exhausted voice, "I made it, I made it, I'm not late... _sorry_."

Jonathan smiled again, and said, "You're fine. You made it on time, and taking into consideration you probably woke up later than usual, you did a pretty good job."

Crow blushed, and said, "Thank you, Dr. Cr- I mean, J-Jonathan."

Jonathan said, "Now, to business; you have a small session with the Joker; you will be watching Dr. Quinn, and observing how she behaves with the inmate."

Crow nodded, and said, "Thank you."

She betrayed a small smile, and said in a small voice, "I've always wanted to watch Dr. Quinn in a session."

Jonathan smiled a small mysterious smile, and said, "I know."

Crow just shook this off, and said, "Which room is this in?"

Jonathan showed her a small map of the asylum, and said, "Just down this corridor, third corridor to the left, first door to your right."

Crow nodded, and said, "Got it. Thank you."

She stood up, smoothed down her shirt, took in a deep breath, and walked out of the office.

She followed Jonathan's instructions, and found herself standing in front of a large steel door with a tiny window near the top.

She heard a familiar bright, chipper voice say from inside the room, "Come in!"

Crow swallowed the enormous lump in her throat, and pushed the door open slowly.

Dr. Quinzel was sitting inside, holding up a small clipboard and pen; she looked up and said brightly, "Dr. Mortus! Dr. Crane told me you would be attending today's session!"

Crow said softly as a small smile crept onto her face, "You can call me Crow. Everyone does."

Harleen smiled, and said to the orderlies outside, "You can bring him in now!"

The door opened again, and two orderlies brought in a slightly shorter man wound up in a strait-jacket, set him down in the chair in front of the table, then left.

Crow watched the orderlies walk out and close the door quickly behind them, then looked back at Dr. Quinzel.

Her persona had changed dramatically. Her large smile was replaced by a placid neutral grimace, and she asked the man sitting in the chair in front of her in a bland voice lacking any personality, "Now, Mr. Joker, may we start the questions?"

Crow looked at the inmate, and jumped slightly at the sight of his famed scars.

His cheeks were carved grimly into a gruesome smile, and the white make-up smeared unevenly across his skin added to the dark visual.

He said in a surprisingly high, scratchy voice, "How are you today, Ms. Quinzel?"

Harleen merely raised an eyebrow, and said in the same neutral, placid monotone, "I'm the one who's going to be asking the questions here. Now, would you like to share anything with me today?"

The Joker frowned (the strange contortion looked oddly foreign on his face), and said, "Who's the little... how should I phrase it... _prodige_?"

Harleen just sighed, and said, "This is Dr. Mortus. She is merely observing me for this session."

The Joker's smile returned, and he said, "Ms. Quinzel, tell me; will I ever see you smile?"

Harleen frowned, and said, "I'll be asking the questions here."

Crow's heartbeat quickened as the Joker jerked his chair forward so that he was face-to-face with Dr. Quinzel.

He said in a slow dangerous voice, "Ms. Quinzel, everyone could use a smile."

Suddenly, he exploded out of his chair, throwing off the strait-jacket, and launched himself at Harleen.

Crow screamed as he wrapped his hands around Harleen's throat, bringing his face right up to hers, and saying, "Now now, Ms. Quinzel, please, give me just a little smile..."

The Joker started to pinch off her windpipe as Crow threw herself towards the panic button, and jammed her thumb on top of it.

Suddenly, four orderlies burst into the room, grabbing Joker by the arms, and dragging him off of Harleen.

The Joker, instead of struggling, starting laughing hysterically as they dragged him away to his cell.

Harleen gasped for breath, feeling her bruising neck for anything broken, and Crow fell down to her level to help her up.

Harleen said in her normal voice, "And that, Crow, is how a session is _not_ supposed to go."

She managed a small laugh before she clutched her throat, and went into a long coughing fit.

Crow held her friend's shoulders, and helped her up gently towards the door.

Jonathan watched all this from the cameras, and smiled as Crow guided her shaky friend to the medic.

* * *

Crow walked slowly to the employee break room, and opened the small fridge, looking for her lunch when-

 _"Dammit."_

She inwardly cursed herself, and remembered that when she had rushed to catch a cab, she had completely forgotten to pack lunch.

She kicked herself in the shin, and limped over to a chair to sip a cup of the free coffee.

But Jonathan walked in silently, making her jump slightly when he said, "No lunch?"

Crow frowned, and rested her cheek on her hand as she said, "Yeah. I completely spaced it when I left for work."

Jonathan smiled, and said, "Come on, I've got an extra lunch in my office."

Crow stood up, betrayed a sad smile, and said, "Thank you," as she straightened her glasses with her spare hand.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Crow and Jonathan were laughing at a joke; Crow snorting slightly as she laughed, and Jonathan was bent over in loud heaving laughs.

Jonathan wiped his eyes underneath his glasses, and said, "So, how do you like lunch?"

Crow wiped a few stray tears of her own between chuckles, and said, "It's great, thanks!"

She took a swig of her soda, and Jonathan said, "How would you like to do dinner? I stay late after work, so it would be a little later than the usual time, but I could take you somewhere special."

The meaning of his words hit Crow like a ton of bricks, and she spewed her sip of soda all over herself.

She wiped off her shirt slowly, and said, "Did you just ask me on a date?"

Jonathan smiled a small, genuine smile, and said, "Yeah, I guess."

Crow smiled, and stuttered, "Um, sure! That'd be great!"

Jonathan smiled, and said, "Okay, I'll pick you up then?"

Crow blushed, and said softly, "Oh, you don't have to. Just tell me the address of the restaurant, and I'll drive myself."

Jonathan stood up, and said, "Well, it's settled then. Bistro Margot, seven p.m."

Crow nodded, picked up her handbag, then paused.

She truend around, and said, "Bistro Margot? No way."

Jonathan smiled, and said, "No, I insist."

Crow smiled, and said, "Alright, you've got a date."

* * *

Crow burst into the apartment, yelling, "Cathy, I'm the luckiest woman alive!"

Cathy sat straight up from a pile of gossip magazines, and said quickly, "What happened? Did you win the lottery? Did you find a treasure chest in the subway? Did you get a raise? Di-"

Crow interrupted, her smile stretching a mile as she said, "I've got a date!"

Cathy smiled, and said, "With who? How much did you pay him?"

Crow punched her roommate in the shoulder, and said, "No, he asked me, and second... Guess who!"

Cathy thought for a second, and said, "The male receptionist?"

Crow frowned, and said, "No, Jonathan Crane!"

Cathy laughed, and said, "No way! No way in hell you got _that_ to happen!"

Crow smiled, and said, "Well, I did, and guess where we're going?"

Cathy smiled sarcastically, and said, "The Burger Kign down the road?"

Crow smiled wider, and said, "No..."

Cathy's eyes widened, and she said in awe, "No way!"

Crow said, "Yes way!"

Cathy said, "How did you get into Bistro Margot?!"

Crow laughed, and said, "I have no idea! But we're going tonight!"

Cathy lept from her position on the floor, and said, "Well, then you're going to need a make-over!"

Crow smiled, and followed her friend into the closet.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jonathan was walking through the long starched hallways, carrying his precious briefcase.

All he needed to do was talk to one patient, and then he could go on his date.

That's all.

He reminded himself he couldn't get carried away with the mask, or he would most definitely be late; no, he just needed to go in, put on the mask, wait until the man screamed a confession, and walk out.

Piece of cake.

He would talk.

* * *

Almost an hour after she returned home to her apartment, Crow walked slowly out of the closet.

Cathy gasped, and said, "Oh, Crow, you're beautiful!"

Crow was dressed in a long black dress that clung to her torso and flared at the shoulders, reaching her knees then bursting into delicate layers of black lace and velvet. The neckline was low, but not low enough to be indecent.

She had her hair down straight, and around her neck hung a lusterous strand of black pearls.

Crow moved a stray strand of black hair out of her face, and said, "I look ridiculous."

Cathy shook her head, shedding a few tears, and said, "No, Crow, you're beautiful! You're absolutely lovely!"

Crow blushed (the simple change of skin tone exploded across her pale skin) and said, "Alright. I'm going to go to Arkham a bit early, to surprise him, okay?"

Cathy wiped her eyes, and said, "Okay. You have fun, you hear me?"

Crow nodded, and grabbed her handbag as she walked out of the apartment in her high-heels.

* * *

Jonathan entered the room, and looked at the man sitting at the table.

The man smirked, and said, "So, they've sent in another freak like you to get me to confess? I'm telling you, I didn't do anything."

Jonathan just gave him a smirk of his own, and said, "Alright, if we're going to be difficult..."

He opened his briefcase on the table, and said, "I tend to use this on most of my patients... they hate it..."

The man smirked again, and said, "Yeah, what are you going to do? Torture me?"

Jonathan turned around to face away from the man, and said, "Not exactly."

He turned back around, and sprayed a strange gas straight into his face.

The man just looked puzzled at first, but then his beady eyes widened in terror.

Jonathan gave a small laugh, and said, "Oh, you still won't talk to me then? Well, then, I guess I'll have to use the mask... most people hate it when I use the mask..."

Jonathan turned back around, and took another thing from his briefcase, and slipping it over his head.

He turned around again, and the man let out a blood-curtling scream.

* * *

Crow pulled up to the asylum (the sun was setting slowly on the horizon), killed the engine to her small black car, and climbed out carefully as not to rip her dress.

She jogged up the steep stairs to the front door, and swiped her key-card in the door to let herself in.

Most of the lights were off, except for the lights down in one hallway. She headed towards that hallway (sure that Jonathan would be down there), the foot-falls from her high-heels making enormous clacking noises on the polished tile.

Crow looked into each room she passed, looking for Jonathan, and finally saw the last room at the end of the hallway.

As she walked closer, she could hear the horrifying sound of muffled screams coming from the room.

Thinking it was Jonathan screaming inside, she threw off her high-heels, and ran towards the door, throwing it open.

She ran inside, coughing slightly at a bit of stray smoke she inhaled (where had _that_ come from?), and yelled, "Jonathan! What's going on, I-"

She looked up, and saw the patient in the chair cowering in fear, letting out the same terrifying screams she had heard earileir in the hallway.

She turned to Jonathan, and turned him around by his shoulder.

The sight she saw made her collapse to the floor in a flurry of black lace and velvet, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Jonathan tried to reassure her, but all she could see was the horrifying burlap mask from her nightmare.

* * *

 _A/N:_ How did you like this chapter? Sorry if it was a little uneven, I think I wrote it a little too fast.


	4. Terrified

_A/N:_ Hello! Sorry for not updating in a while, I hit a serious roadblock with the story, but it's fine, so here you go.

 _Disclaimer:_ I own nothing.

 **Terrified**

Crow tangled herself up in the skirt of her dress, trying to scramble away from the monster in front of her.

Jonathan tried to grab her shoulders to calm her down, but she let out a terrible scream as the thing tried to snatch her in its ragged burlap hands.

She scrambled into the corner, and groped at the white wall before collapsing at his feet, crying pathetically.

He tried to look at her, but she would whimper, and turn away, guarding her face with her outstretched hands

Her once-beautiful make-up was running all down her face; giving her the appearance of a woman crying black liquid; and her skirt was torn from where she had run it across the floor, trying to escape.

Her cries mixed with the patient's screams blended together so that they formed a sick melody, and Crow cupped her ears in her hands to block it out.

Jonathan took the mask off, and said softly, "Crow, Crow, it's me, Jonathan, come on Crow, it's me."

But she was still under the effects of the gas, and she just cried, "Stay away from me, please... don't hurt me..."

He frowned, and set the mask back into the briefcase that was still sitting on the desk.

He grabbed her shoulders, and shook hard, saying a little firmer, "Crow, listen to me, I won't hurt you, I'm Jonathan, it's me!"

She just cried louder, her eyes clenched shut and yelling through the tears building up in her throat, "DON'T HURT ME, PLEASE!"

Her shoulders shook heavily as she sobbed, hiding her face in her hands and whimpering through tears, "Don't hurt me..."

Jonathan just stood up, and grabbed a small vial from his briefcase, inserting a small amount into a syringe inside the briefcase.

Once he had the desired amount inside the syringe, he jammed the needle into her neck.

She let out a petrified scream, thinking she had been stabbed, then went slack in Jonathan's arms as the antidote came into effect.

* * *

Crow slowly came into consciousness, the sudden blare of light causing her to squint her eyes.

She looked around once her eyes had adjusted, and saw Jonathan sitting next to the bed she was lying in.

She jolted to life, and yelled with a fury she had never experienced before, "What are you doing here?!"

He frowned, obviously a little hurt, and said, "Crow, I'm so sorry you had to see that-"

Her eyes widened, and she screamed with the same fury, "Sorry?! Sorry can never forgive what I saw! I was petrified!"

Jonathan shed a small tear, and said, "Crow, Crowlin, please, I didn't mean for you to see-"

Crow said with the fury fading from her voice to be replaced with sadness, "See what? You were masquerading around in front of a patient as a terrifying scarecrow right before our date, and you didn't want me to see that?"

Her anger disappeared, and she choked back a horrible sob as she held her face in her hands.

Jonathan felt like sobbing along with her, but he just gathered up all of his strength, and said with as much venom as he could muster, "You couldn't stand a little fear? Weak. That's all you are."

Her eyes widened, and she buried her face in her arms as she let out a loud wail, her shoulders heaving.

He wanted apologize, but he decided this was best.

He pressed on, "If you can't stand just a hint of terror in an insane asylum, then you need to leave, Dr. Mortis."

Her dark eyes shimmered with tears as she looked up at him, almost finding the strength to retort; but it dissolved before she could say anything, leaving her to hold her head in her hands and wail.

Jonathan smirked, and left the room before he could weaken.

* * *

Crow woke up in her apartment, still dressed in her tattered evening gown, and looked around to see that Cathy was sitting on the edge of her bed.

The frazzled red-head looked at her with wide eyes, and said in a strangely haunting tone, "Who was that?"

Crow frowned drowsily, and said in a tired voice, "Who was who?"

Cathy said, visibly quivering, "The man who brought you home."

Crow thought for a bit, then shrugged, saying, "No clue. I fell asleep at the asylum."

Cathy shook her head, and said, "How did you fall asleep at the asylum? You went there to meet your date! How did you fall asleep?"

She thought for a bit, then said, "What, did he drug you or something?"

Crow touched her temple, then said, "I don't remember."

But she looked up, and said slowly, "But I do remember he dumped me."

Cathy frowned, and suddenly she was her old self again. She said, "Aww, poor thing. You got so dressed up too..."

Crow just frowned, and said, "No, he wasn't that great. I guess I was just a little shell-shocked that someone actually asked me out."

Cathy just nodded, and said, "You want to go to a movie? I heard that Dr. Strange is out!"

Crow smiled, and nodded, pulling her ruined dress off and tossing it in the trash to replace it with a sweater and a comfortable pair of slacks.

* * *

The cab the two roommates were riding in arrived at the theater, shuttering to a stop.

Cathy clamoured out first, wearing a baggy green skirt with a pair of tight orange pants and large hoop earrings dangling from her earlobes.

Crow stepped out carefully in a tight white sweater and light blue jeans, following her bubbly friend up to the ticket window.

Cathy smiled cheekily at the clerk behind the dusty glass, and said, "Two tickets for the 5:00 showing of Dr. Strange."

The young man accepted her folded bills and slid their tickets underneath the glass to them after he counted the cash.

He also noticed the redhead had slipped him a piece of paper with her number scrawled on it in with the bills, and pocketed the worn paper with a small wink to her.

Cathy smiled another toothy smile and waggled three of her fingers in his direction as she walked inside the theater, tailed by Crow who was trying not to seem too awkward.

They bought a large bucket of popcorn, which Crow offered to carry, and headed inside the designated theater.

Cathy picked seats in the middle of the room and sat down just as the movie began to play.

Crow watched the majority of the movie without any trouble.

But she was watching the intense final scene when she let out a blood-curtling scream.

Cathy looked over to her with a start, and hissed, "What are you doing?" as the people around them started telling her to shut the hell up.

But Crow looked up at the screen again, and screamed, this time longer and higher.

One of the ushers, in his trim uniform and carrying his lit flashlight, walked over to them, and told Cathy, "I'm sorry ma'am, you have to take her out of the theater."

Cathy glared at Crow, and dragged her out of the theater.

The flustered red-head called down a cab, and threw her roomie inside.

Once they had started moving, Cathy yelled, "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

Crow frowned, and said, "What? What did I do?"

Cathy threw up her hands, and screeched, "'WHAT DID I DO', SHE SAYS! 'WHAT DID I DO!' YOU START SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER _IN THE MIDDLE OF A FUCKING MOVIE THEATER, AND YOU ASK 'WHAT DID I DO'?!_ I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"

Crow felt tears well up in her eyes, but she said in spite of her tears, "I don't know what's going on, ever since I came home from that date, I've been terrified of everything, and I couldn't help it! I'm sorry Cathy, I can't help it!"

Cathy just glared at her blubbering roommate, and turned to look out the cab window, glaring at the lights flashing past them.

* * *

A/N: Again, sorry for not updating in a while!


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